Thursday, May 16, 2013

Spring Branding With a Little TLC

Yesterday we started our Spring Works. I tumbled out of bed at 3:30 to start biscuits for breakfast. With the the extensive drought, our calves are strung out age wise and we're spending a lot of our time feeding so we're working cattle sporadically. One day this week, 2 next, 3 next, and so on. Our college girl came home for a few days after Finals and she was thrilled to get to work one day. Honestly, this kid is more comfortable on a horse than she is on her own two feet.

And if we're working cattle...she's really in her element,

and has been since she was little:

Around here, cow works are work and fun all rolled into one:

I wonder if the kids miss it as much as we miss them:

I'm kinda thinkin' they do:

I wanted to take some photos while she was here, but they worked on the north end of the ranch at Silman Pens today and I can't get all the way over there... and back... and fix dinner, so you get shots from the past.

It really was a toss up. Go take pictures... or light, fluffy airy Butterhorns to round out a dinner of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, salad, and Cajun Cake. I'm thinking the crew might have staged a mutiny had I chosen the pictures.

Probably a good thing, I didn't take pictures anyway. DH came back to headquarters covered in blood. He wasn't looking peaked or pale and he was sawing some PVC pipe so I did not inquire as to the state of his shirt. I knew it wasn't his and I would get the story later in the day - probably at the dinner table where all stories are told. I pulled the last batch of rolls out of the oven and went out to see if he needed help. He said a calf had a dislocated ankle and he was making a sort of cast for it. Ranchers have been accused of being cruel or not taking care of their livestock. That can never be said around here.

This little guy will spend some time in the pen, with his Mama and all the hay his little heart desires:

We've walked colicky horses through the night, brought calves into the house during a blizzard to dry them, drenched cattle 3-4 times a day which is like wrestling with a 600# UFC fighter, brought baby calves into the world at 2 am, rescued baby kittens that fell into water troughs, doctored day old colts:

made an impromptu eye patch from a pair of britches for a calf

bottle fed countless dogie calves

and I rescued a baby calf from an irrigation ditch while driving to town one day. If it can be saved, we're sure as heck gonna do everything we can to save it, and when it can't...we're still gonna do everything we can to save it. It's how we roll at the end of this dirt road.

8 comments:

I never understood the mentality that farmers and ranchers are cruel to their stock. Hello, people, it's not feasible to hurt the very animals that are the livelihood of the operation. Okay, I'll get off of my soapbox for a bit.

Love seeing pics. of life on a cattle ranch. My city-slicker kids have no idea of the happiness and hard work that happens on a farm. They think beef magically appears all in a row at the grocery store.Looking forward to more pics....

About Me

Living life at the end of the dirt road is a joy and the blessings are many. My husband and I have been married for 30 years and we have two great kids ~ our son is 26, serving our country as a Marine, and our daughter is 23, working on her Ruminant Nutrition graduate degree..So proud of both of them! The good Lord has blessed us with an amazing life! We ranch on 128,000 acres and there is never a dull moment. I am chief cook, bottle washer, gate opener, and retired homeschool Mama. I love the Lord, photography, gardening, quilting,tending to cattle & horses and helping DH in any capacity I can, as well as feeding everyone that wonders down the dirt road.
So welcome to life at the end of the dirt road ~ I hope you enjoy the visit!